Two Ladies Sick In Poona

Posted by Catharine Honeyman on March 31, 2002

My family, in Hawaii since 1899, has been using a phrase for so long we've forgotten where it comes from. When there is a group of people (or more often children) making a dreadful noise, someone will come in and yell, "Two ladies sick in Puna!" and that means Everyone Hush Immediately.

As we were in Hawaii, it could refer to Puna in Hawaii; if it's Anglo-Indian slang (many white folks in Hawaii at the turn of the last century were English people who had been in India) it could refer to Poona. Has anyone else heard this?

• Two other fellows from Poona R. Berg 03/31/02
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